EuroTribe

your guide to Europe off the beaten path

Category: Opinion

Traveler vs. Tourist Argument – Breaking Stereotypes

“I’m a traveler not a tourist.” “The traveler sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see.” Internet is flooded with such quotes. So what’s the…

“I’m a traveler not a tourist.” “The traveler sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see.”

Internet is flooded with such quotes.

So what’s the matter with this “traveler vs. tourist argument’? Tourists are often known as “boring”, “inconsiderate”, “bad”, “uninformed”, “traveling in the group” and travelers are “cool”, “adventurous”, “respectful”, “open minded” and in one word- “better”.

These are stereotypes and many times this division is caused by snobbish behavior and thinking “I am better than you are. And my way of traveling is better than yours”. Sometimes just the way you dress or destinations you pick will make you look like a tourist or a traveler. That’s more than enough to show that this division is based on stereotypes.

Let’s see first what the word tourist means. The official definition describes tourist as someone who travels abroad for at least twenty-four hours. And for sociologists these both groups are perceived as tourists. But the word ‘tourist’ usually had a negative connotation since its introduction.

no tourists allowed

Travelers are known as the ones who travel to less-known and alternative places, but what they don’t seem to understand is that with that they actually pave the road for tourists and tourism industry. This is closely related to something which in tourism is called as “the stages of development of touristic regions”.

In the first phase the place will be visited by individual guests who would fit the earlier description of a “traveler”, while the local population will see this as a chance for its development and that will eventually lead to the emergence of entrepreneurship. This phase is then replaced by “the mass tourism phase” where tourists pop in. New accommodation facilities, restaurants and bars are being opened which are adapted to the habits of the visitors. As you can see travelers will always pave the road for tourists, so this division is unfounded.

So why are travelers so bothered by tourists? In the past tourism was reserved only for the upper class and those who were traveling had a special status. Maybe travelers are bothered by tourists because they make them feel less special? But travel is no longer reserved for the upper class. Today everybody travels and the unknown almost doesn’t exist. Nowadays people travel to some of the unfriendliest places on Earth such as the Antarctic.

For example backpackers often travel to undeveloped areas and contribute economically but that’s not always the case. Many times they act as exploiters of local resources and they tend to socialize more with other backpackers than with the locals. Also there are many countries which are against this type of travel, like Bhutan where you won’t find a backpacking culture.

Then there are those type of tourists who walk around carrying their cameras and look a bit annoying, but they also do their best to learn the local customs and culture and they behave more cautiously to the local population which again shows us that this dichotomy is unfounded.

Everything is pretty individual and at the end of the day it doesn’t matter if you call yourself a tourist or a traveler. What’s important is the way you travel. If you improve the world we live in, if you treat the local culture with respect, if you learn new things while you travel and make contacts with the locals then it doesn’t matter if you are a traveler or a tourist. What is more important is our behavior and the traces we leave behind.

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European Tourism Branding – Who does it better?

As tourism is one of the most profitable industries in the world, a lot of effort is required in the fields of marketing and branding by respective National Tourism Organisations….

As tourism is one of the most profitable industries in the world, a lot of effort is required in the fields of marketing and branding by respective National Tourism Organisations. And as such, every country tries to position themselves in the market by being more original via their unique tourism branding.

This post comes after the National Tourism Organisation of the Czech Republic, decided to re-brand their country as Czech RepubLIKE, as ‘like’ couldn’t get any more overrated already. You don’t need to change your country’s name to ‘LIKE’ to make it more social friendly, therefore we ‘like’ the video accompanying their campaign much better than the logo.

Below we have a list of logos representing the tourism industry in specific countries all over Europe. Each logo should differentiate the country to another one and make it more unique; but, are they really that original when it comes to visual identity?

Let’s take a look.

ALBANIA

albania tourism logo

 ANDORRA

andorra tourism logo

 AUSTRIA

Austria tourism logo

 BELGIUM

belgian tourist office logo

 BULGARIA

bulgaria tourism logo

CROATIA

croatia tourism logo

CYPRUS

cyprus tourism logo

CZECH REPUBLIC

DENMARK

 ESTONIA

estonia tourism logo

FINLAND

finland tourism logo

FRANCE

france tourism logo

 GEORGIA

georgia tourism logo

GERMANY

germany tourism logo

GREECE

greece tourism logo

HUNGARY

hungary tourism logo

ICELAND

iceland tourism logo

IRELAND

ireland tourism logo

ITALY

Italy tourism logo

LATVIA

latvia tourism logo

Of course, logos do not represent the branding of a country and its tourism organisation as a whole. That’s why for example, the Croatian tourist board won the award for the best tourism film in Warsaw this year called “Ode to Joy”. The Austrian logo is quite simple with the saying “Holidays in Austria”. The Cypriot logo is one of the best in my opinion because it represents the sun and sea – two elements that Cyprus is the most famous for. The Finnish and Danish logos are quite simple, whilst the Italian logo is very poor for a country with one of the richest histories on the continent.

If I had to pick a country I would visit next, but based only on the LOGO, then it would be: Albania and Cyprus.

Let’s continue.

LITHUANIA

lithuania tourism logo

LUXEMBOURG

luxembourg tourism logo

MALTA

malta tourism logo

MONTENEGRO

montenegro tourism logo

THE NETHERLANDS

netherlands tourism logo

POLAND

poland tourism logo

PORTUGAL

portugal tourism logo

ROMANIA

Romania tourism logo

 SERBIA

serbia tourism logo

SLOVAKIA

slovakia tourism logo

SLOVENIA

slovenia tourism logo

SPAIN

spain tourism logo

SWEDEN

sweden tourism info

SWITZERLAND

switzerland tourism logo

TURKEY

turkey tourism logo

GREAT BRITAIN

great britain tourism logo

 

The logo of Luxembourg is very simple but with a very modern and colourful typography and if such a logo was intended to be simple, they should look like this one. The Dutch logo represents one of the national symbols with very nice typography and in orange colour, which is the main colour associated with the country.

The Polish logo is a great example of how tourism logos should look, and it’s one of the better ones if not the best on the list. It represents forests, seas and mountains and therefore promotes the country as nature friendly.

Serbia’s logo is colorful whilst the Romanian one also has a feel for nature.

Sweden has a simple logo with nice and modern typography, but on the other hand Sweden along with Norway is doing amazing job on promoting their countries on social media services.

The Swiss logo is another example of a nice but simple logo, with great typography and most importantly a strong message.

If I had to pick the countries that I would visit next, only based on their logo, they would be: the Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Switzerland.

And what about you? Which logo did you like the most? Or which one do you like the least? Let us know in the comments below!

All images belong to their respective National Tourism Organisations.

 

2 Comments on European Tourism Branding – Who does it better?

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